What is the term for putting someone elses ideas into your own words?
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Published May 18, 2017 Show Many people think of plagiarism as copying another's work or borrowing someone else's original ideas. But terms like "copying" and "borrowing" can disguise the seriousness of the offense: According to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary, to "plagiarize" means:
In other words, plagiarism is an act of fraud. It involves both stealing someone else's work and lying about it afterward. But can words and ideas really be stolen?According to U.S. law, the answer is yes. The expression of original ideas is considered intellectual property and is protected by copyright laws, just like original inventions. Almost all forms of expression fall under copyright protection as long as they are recorded in some way (such as a book or a computer file). All of the following are considered plagiarism:
Most cases of plagiarism can be avoided, however, by citing sources. Simply acknowledging that certain material has been borrowed and providing your audience with the information necessary to find that source is usually enough to prevent plagiarism. See our section on citation for more information on how to cite sources properly. What about images, videos, and music?Using an image, video or piece of music in a work you have produced without receiving proper permission or providing appropriate citation is plagiarism. The following activities are very common in today’s society. Despite their popularity, they still count as plagiarism.
Certainly, these media pose situations in which it can be challenging to determine whether or not the copyrights of a work are being violated. For example:
The legality of these situations, and others, would be dependent upon the intent and context within which they are produced. The two safest approaches to take in regards to these situations is: 1) Avoid them altogether or 2) Confirm the works’ usage permissions and cite them properly. It’s hard to get anything right the first time. The vast majority of us don’t learn to ride a bicycle the first time we get on a bike. We don’t learn to drive right away, either. We learn with guidance and correction--and it’s even better when we receive that feedback in the moment and multiple times. Essay writing is the same. While copying and pasting another person’s work and presenting it as your own idea can be a pretty clear example of plagiarism, there are a lot of nuances to academic misconduct, too. It’s not easy figuring out whether or not you’ve got it right, all while you’re trying to learn and avoid getting in trouble when you didn’t intend to plagiarize. Let’s bring up one example--like distinguishing paraphrasing and plagiarism from original work. Students are told to “put ideas into your own words” in order to avoid plagiarism. We know to always cite quotations. They’re literally words from another person (easily accomplished via copy and paste) and they should be credited to someone else. But teachers also tell students to “use the ideas of others in your own words,” which is also defined as paraphrasing. 🤪 What on earth is the difference? Isn’t taking the ideas of another person and putting them into your own words a way to avoid plagiarism??? Answer: Not when it’s someone else’s idea. In a prior post on paraphrasing, we wrote, “Citation isn’t simply about giving credit for other people’s words. It’s about both giving credit to other people’s work that your writing is built upon and highlighting where your information came from” (Plagiarism.org, 2018). Here is an example of paraphrasing and an appropriate in-text APA citation for the above quote: It is important not only to cite quotations in the form of other people’s words but also to give credit to the ideas of others. When your writing is built upon their ideas, it’s important to highlight your sources (Plagiarism.org, 2018). Because we didn’t build on the idea, but repeated it, we attributed the source. When we have our own original ideas, then those are our own and there is no need to cite sources. For instance, we can use the above idea from Plagiarism.org and build on it to form an original idea: It’s important to cite our sources, whether they’re quoted or paraphrased, to avoid plagiarism. First, let’s discuss how to tell the difference between our own words and paraphrasing. Paraphrasing is summarizing the idea of another person--and when we use that idea to build our own, we then produce original work. So what are some effective ways to learn to avoid paraphrasing plagiarism?
In sum, cite your source when you paraphrase. Another way to avoid paraphrasing plagiarism is with real-time feedback. Sometimes our instructors give us a list that tells us all the different ways plagiarism can manifest. But it’s hard to learn something a month in advance, and then have to recall it within the process of writing. It’s way more effective for that information to arise while we’re writing. Wouldn’t that be nice? There are tools like Draft Coach that can provide feedback in real-time that helps guide us towards proper citation so that we can focus on writing a better paper. And stop worrying about committing plagiarism by accident and getting an F or worse. This is the best kind of feedback, one that actually helps, telling us specifically what we need to improve right then and there as we learn. Ultimately, the goal is to be able to do this automatically and do this all on our own. But just like driving or riding a bicycle, there’s a learning journey beforehand and students should feel supported through that process. Because in the end, believing in yourself helps you to be more original. What is it called when you put ideas in your own words?Paraphrasing means putting someone else's ideas into your own words. Paraphrasing a source involves changing the wording while preserving the original meaning. Paraphrasing is an alternative to quoting (copying someone's exact words and putting them in quotation marks).
What is a Patchwriting?Patchwriting means “restating a phrase, clause, or one or more sentences while staying close to the. language or syntax of the source” (Jamieson & Howard, 2011).
What is structural paraphrase?This type of paraphrasing involves changing the sentence's structure, sometimes creating a passive voice from an active voice and vice versa. The change in structure can be used to reflect the writer's interpretation of the original quote.
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